I dont know about the whole religous thing but i know plenty of people that have a fear of snakes for no reason (probably because there different) . But a way to undestand it is to look at something you fear and try to put yourself in the peoples shoes that fear snakes. take something you fear and apply it to snakes and you'll see.

for example im pretty dam scared of spiders LOL for no reason not religion not anything like that i just dont like the ugly little dudes, there nasty, and when i look at that and see how it scares me and then put myself in someone elses shoes and apply that fear to snakes i understand why people fear them better, and then i try to show them how cool and nice snakes actually are!

Maybe one day someone will introduce me to spiders better and show me that there not that bad but i doubt it.

just my take on the subject.